GOT PICKY EATERS? HIDE SOME VEGGIES IN THIS CREAMY VEGAN PASTA SAUCE!

If you have ever had morels, you already know how delicious they are. Morels, a wild mushroom, are all hand picked and after a season of forest fires they can become very plentiful. However they remain difficult to find, hence they are very pricey. I always consider them to be a treat and wish they were more plentiful because I could easily just eat a huge plate of them all by themselves. Realistically, I have to come up with ways to stretch their goodness for everyone to enjoy. Yesterday, in my SPUD order came the morels I ordered and while putting them away, I came across a cauliflower I had received a couple of weeks ago and had forgotten. Fortunately, cauliflowers have a longer shelf life than some vegetables and mine was still good though it was just starting to get some brown spots so I knew I had to use it very soon.

Cauliflower has become a popular vegetable recently because it is so versatile so I decided to put mine to use as a base for a cream sauce…best decision ever! This turned out so well, I needed to share it. Please understand that part of my purpose for sharing these treats is so I can replicate them again. I have made so many things over the years that I just threw together but didn’t record anywhere and now cannot remember what I used or how I made them… some great meals forever lost!

Creamy Vegan Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

1 medium head of cauliflower, cleaned and broken into florets

½ cup cashews

¼ cup nutritional yeast

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp of salt (or more to taste)

1 tsp of freshly ground pepper

1 cup unsweetened cashew milk

1 lb fresh morels

5 cloves of garlic chopped

3 T avocado oil

Fresh basil leaves

1 pkg brown rice spiral pasta (or pasta of your choice)

Directions

1. Soak morels in salt water for 20 minutes to draw out any critters.
2. Steam florets and cashews for 20 minutes
3. Rinse morels well a few times and chop of any woody stems
4. Place steamed cauliflower, cashews, cashew milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cashew milk in a blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Set aside.
5. Cook pasta
6. Add chopped garlic to avocado oil and sauté over low heat for 5 minutes
7. Add morels to garlic and oil and sauté over medium heat for 20 minutes until garlic has clarified and morels are soft. They will shrink significantly.
8. Add the mushrooms and garlic mixture to the cauliflower sauce and stir well, until hot and bubbly.
9. Drain cooked pasta and pour sauce over it
10. Garnish with fresh basil leaves

Serve with a side salad for a delicious meal.